


Intervention

by vix_spes



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-27
Updated: 2011-12-27
Packaged: 2018-05-01 03:29:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5190479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vix_spes/pseuds/vix_spes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Morgana grow sick and tired of Arthur’s denial of his feelings and callous treatment of Merlin, and the misery it leads to for both of them, she decides to take action.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Intervention

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chaosmaka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaosmaka/gifts).



“I’m sorry guys, but I can’t stay any longer.”

The whole group turned to face Merlin who sat there with a thoroughly miserable look on his face, one that mirrored his tone of voice.

“No, stay. Please!” Gwen took his hand, not wanting him to leave by himself.

Merlin smiled wanly and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I’m sorry Gwen. I can’t stay and watch … well that.” He gestured towards the other side of the room where Arthur’s current girlfriend was draped all over him rather scantily clad in several pieces of material that were apparently masquerading as a dress.

Gwen smiled sympathetically, “I suppose we can understand that. Let one of us know when you get home okay?”

Merlin accepted the various hugs, back-slaps and hair ruffles from the guys as well as another huge hug and kiss from Gwen before he turned to Morgana.

“I’ll walk down with you; there’s something that I want to talk to you about.”

Merlin nodded and cast one last look in Arthur’s direction, hopeful that the blond would at least look in his direction but he wasn’t in luck. His face fell and he was pathetically grateful when Morgana’s hand slipped into his, squeezing tightly as she led him from the penthouse flat that Arthur owned. As soon as they were in the lift, Morgana started ranting about what a skank Sophia was, how Arthur was a git and she couldn’t believe that she was related to him. Merlin didn’t say anything, he simply let her get it all out of her system, knowing that she would run out of steam sooner or later. He was right of course. She finished her outburst by flinging her arms around him and hugging him tightly.

“I’m so sorry Merlin.”

Merlin smiled weakly and hugged her close to him. “Why should you be sorry? Arthur may be your brother but that doesn’t make any of this your fault.” He stuck an arm out to hail a cab before he turned back to Morgana. “Look, I didn’t want to say this to the others, not in public where it could make a scene. I think that it would be a good idea if I stayed away for a while. I can’t deal with this anymore. Not now. I need some time to get my head together.”

Morgana looked panicked, clinging to the front of Merlin’s shirt. “What are you saying? Merlin, you can’t leave!”

“I have to Morgana, I can’t do this anymore. I thought I could but I can’t, it’s too much. I’ve been struggling with this for years but then you know that; you knew before I did for pity’s sake.” He had been determined to get through this with his composure intact but as his eyes welled up slightly, he knew that he wasn’t going to make it up. “I have been in love with Arthur for years and I have managed to deal with those feelings as well as being his best friend but I can’t deal with watching him go from girlfriend to girlfriend especially when he flaunts them like he did tonight. It’s just too difficult. Maybe if I put some distance between me and him then it might make it easier to deal with. I don’t want to do this but I think it’s the best thing I can do. Do you understand?”

Morgana smiled sympathetically. “I understand but that doesn’t mean that I like it. Where are you going to go? What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to the States; I’m finally going to do my doctorate. Uncle Gaius pulled some strings and got me an interview at Harvard. They’ve offered me a place starting in just over a month and Uncle Gaius has managed to find me some sponsorship as well. I may have done a GTP but I didn’t really want to be a teacher. I want to live in libraries, do research, be a geek.”

“But america?”

merlin shrugged helplessly. “the further away the better?”

morgana smiled sadly as the taxi pulled up. “You will tell the others won’t you? Tell Arthur? When do you leave?”

“At the beginning of next week. I really need to go home and start packing. I’ll tell the others I promise, but not for the next couple of days – give Arthur a chance to get over his hangover.”

He smiled at Morgana and kissed her on the cheek. “You need to go back to the party. I’ll phone you tomorrow.”

(~*~)

Five days later, Merlin stood at Heathrow desperately putting off walking through to departures. He had said his farewells to all his friends the previous evening and had said a rather tearful goodbye to his mother not half an hour ago yet he was still waiting in the desperate hope that Arthur would come. He hadn’t taken the news of Merlin leaving well at all. When Merlin had told him, Arthur had stormed out and refused to return, also refusing to attend Merlin’s farewell dinner. As time ticked on, Merlin knew that he couldn’t linger any longer. He had to go through to the departures lounge or risk missing his plane. He had thought or rather hoped that Arthur may come around but apparently not. It wasn’t the way that he had wanted to go to the States but he had no choice. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he picked up his bag and double-checked his passport and boarding pass before making for security. Maybe this was exactly what he needed. Maybe this was proof that Arthur didn’t care for Merlin as much as Merlin cared for Arthur. Maybe this was what Merlin needed to move on from Arthur.

~*~

**O ne year later…..**

“Nice of you to show up Arthur, I really appreciate it.”

Arthur rolled his eyes at Morgana’s sarcasm, too used to it for it to be anything more than a minor annoyance. “Don’t start ‘Gana. Why am I here anyway?”

“Because you’re my brother and because you’ve been avoiding giving me the answers that I need. So, are you bringing your skank of the month to my wedding and the rehearsal dinner? Please say no.”

“Can you not refer to Sophia as my ‘skank of the month’? She’s my girlfriend and has been for a while. How did you convince Leon to marry you again?”

“Shut up about me and Leon. You still didn’t answer my question, are you bringing your - _Sophia_ – to my wedding and the rehearsal dinner?”

“No, she’s not coming. I didn’t think it was a good idea, seeing as you lot all hate her even though Dad seems to approve.”

“Uther approves because Sophia’s a vacuous blonde who agrees with everything he says, her father has money and he approves of her family. He doesn’t actually care if you’re happy with her or not.”

Arthur scoffed. “Don’t tell me that you actually care whether I’m happy or not.”

“We all do Arthur. Look, we know you miss Merlin – we all do – but you were the one who was being a dick and you’re the reason that he left.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Morgana regretted them. They had obviously cut Arthur deeply as his face was devoid of all colour. She considered putting the kettle on but reached for the whisky instead, handing Arthur a generous measure.

“I’m sorry Arthur, I shouldn’t have said that.”

“But you meant it.” He took a swallow before he spoke. “Was I the reason Merlin left?”

Morgana hadn’t wanted to have this conversation but equally, it had been the elephant in the room for the last year. None of them felt comfortable talking about Merlin when Arthur was around even though they had all kept in touch with him. A confrontation was inevitable though as Merlin was flying back for Morgana’s wedding seeing as he was her closest friend. Morgana stood and fetched the bottle of whisky.

“You’d better sit down Arthur, this is going to take a while.”

(~*~)

Arthur sat in the familiar darkness of his flat, mulling over Morgana’s words and resisting the urge to break out the hard liquor. Morgana’s words had hit home hard and he knew that he had a lot of home truths to face. Subconsciously, he had known that he had been partially behind Merlin’s decision to leave a year ago and he had regretted the way that he had behaved when he had been told of Merlin’s decision. He also regretted the fact that he hadn’t gone to the airport to see him off and what was worse, he didn’t know if Merlin would forgive him for the way that he had behaved. If it was him in Merlin’s place then he knew that he wouldn’t. It was ironic really. He had buried his real feelings for Merlin as deep as possible, desperately trying to keep their friendship intact and had dated the girls that his father had approved of but all he had succeeded in doing was hurting both Merlin and himself, making himself unhappy and driving Merlin six thousand miles away. He had been more miserable than he had let on this last year and he had missed Merlin desperately, like a bone-deep ache that just wouldn’t go away. He needed to try and mend things between them and what better situation for a new start than at a wedding? He knew the first thing he had to do and, taking a deep breath, reached for his phone and dialled a familiar number. Sophia wasn’t going to like it but she would get over it soon enough.

~*~

By the time that the morning of Morgana’s wedding came round Arthur was uncharacteristically nervous. He had psyched himself up to meet Merlin but then Merlin’s flight had been cancelled leaving him stranded at the airport and meaning that he missed the rehearsal dinner. It had been incredibly stressful for Arthur. He had been hoping that they could get the awkwardness out of the way so that he, so that they, could actually enjoy the wedding itself. Though that hadn’t happened, Morgana had obviously spread the word and it was as though a dam had broken. Arthur had felt a pang of guilt; he hadn’t realised or thought how hard the rift between he and Merlin had been for their friends to deal with. Now though, they were able to talk about Merlin without hesitation or reservation and it showed. Arthur had listened eagerly, soaking up everything that he could about Merlin, all the scraps of information that he could.

Nothing could have prepared him for that minute when he walked into the church and came face to face with Merlin for the first time in over a year. For a split second there was that awkward pause as they just stared at each other and Arthur knew that he was going to be the one to make the first move.

“Nice of you to pay us a visit _Merlin._ ” He saw some of the tension drain from Merlin’s body as a ghost of a smile flitted across Merlin’s face.

“Yes, well, I couldn’t let you get too comfortable without me.”

Arthur hesitated for a brief second before he stepped forward and gave Merlin a rather awkward hug, struck by the feeling of how right Merlin felt in his arms. He pulled away reluctantly, he had jobs to do.”

“I’m sorry, I have to go…”

“Be an usher.” Merlin finished helpfully.

“Be an usher. Yes. We’ll talk later though?” He didn’t know why, but he needed to know that he and Merlin were going to talk properly. “Won’t we?”

“Yes, we’ll talk later.” Merlin’s lips were curled slightly at the corners and Arthur breathed a sigh of relief.

Arthur was one of the groomsmen; not best man – that role was reserved for Percival but he was an usher alongside Leon’s older brother and as such was responsible for making sure that everyone was seated on the right side of the church and that they had an order of service. His eyes were continually drawn back to Merlin though, as if needing to check that he was still there, he hadn’t run off and he wasn’t simply a figment of Arthur’s imagination. Morgana had been adamant that this was going to be absolutely perfect and if that meant she had to set a dress code, then she would do so … and she had. Arthur wasn’t really complaining though, not when he got to ogle Merlin in a tailcoat. It was strange how, now that he had admitted his feelings for Merlin, despite having dated and simply slept with some absolutely beautiful women, he was more affected by seeing Merlin dressed like this than he ever had been seeing them naked. Rather than sitting further back with other friends, Merlin had been seated in the front row on the brides side. Uther hadn’t been impressed but Morgana was just as stubborn as her father, if not more so, and as with the majority of things where the wedding was concerned had got her own way. The service went off without a hitch and Arthur refused to acknowledge the fact that he was rather misty-eyed when Morgana and Leon were pronounced husband and wife.

The photographs seemed to take forever but finally it was time for the reception and Arthur gratefully took a glass of champagne from one of the servers before wandering over to take a look at the seating plans for the wedding breakfast. He wasn’t expecting to see his name at the top table but he could have happily murdered Morgana when he saw where he was sat. She obviously felt that her intervention and meddling was required. He felt a hand on his arm and turned his head to see the meddler in question.

“Before you kill me, let me try to explain. I was just scared that if I didn’t do anything then you wouldn’t talk to each other at all. He’s barely here for a week and I want you both to be happy. You both deserve to be happy. Just apologise and tell him how you feel.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Pep talk’s over now big brother. I need to go and talk to my guests.”

As Morgana swept off, her dress trailing behind her, Arthur looked at the seating plan again, noting the people sat at his table that weren’t Merlin. There were several aging aunts on his father’s side, his cousin Bedivere who was incredibly dull and tedious, his cousin Kay who was generally a bit of a dick, Merlin and Morgana’s bitch of a half-sister Morgause. You had to love weddings where family politics dictated that you had to invite everyone. Well, there was no way that he was going to have this conversation with Merlin in front of Morgause and he didn’t think that he’d make it through what would no doubt be an interminably long wedding breakfast if he didn’t have this conversation with Merlin first. Besides, it was probably better that this conversation occurred before he got completely plastered on champagne. He walked over to where Merlin was charming one of his batty aunts and touched him gently in the small of his back.

“Merlin, can I talk to you?” When Merlin nodded, Arthur tilted his head slightly. “Outside? In private.”

Merlin looked slightly apprehensive but willingly followed Arthur out into a small courtyard.

“I’m sorry.” Arthur felt mortified that he had just blurted it out but he hadn’t had any control over it.

“What for?” Merlin’s voice was confused.

“What for? Where do I start – how about for everything?”

“This is going to take a while isn’t it?” Merlin sat down on a wrought-iron bench and gestured for Arthur to join him. “So you say you’re apologising for everything – do you think you could be a little bit more specific?”

“I’m sorry for the way that I treated you when you said you were going to America. I’m sorry I didn’t come to the airport to say goodbye to you. I’m sorry that I flaunted my girlfriends in front of you.”

Merlin couldn’t help himself and broke in, “Where is the lovely Sophia tonight?”

“Probably at home throwing darts at a board made of my face. I split up with her about a month ago. Can I finish apologising now?”

“There was more?” Merlin’s eyebrow rose in an uncanny imitation of Gaius. “By all means, carry on.”

“I’m sorry that I tried to make my father happy by burying my feelings for you, I’m sorry that I ignored your feelings, I’m sorry that I wanted to keep our friendship so much that I refused to admit my feelings for you and I’m sorry that I fucked up our friendship. I’m sorry that I never told you that I love you. Because I do.” He stopped and took a deep breath. “There, I’m done.”

Merlin laughed and it had a slightly bitter edge. “Do you know why I chose America for my phD Arthur? I didn’t want to go that far away, I knew that I’d be homesick but I went anyway. I went to try and fall out of love with you. And then I come here and you tell me that you’re in love with me and it’s what I’ve wanted to hear for such a long time…”

“But I’m too late. You’ve found someone else.” Arthur rested his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands. He’d fucked up big time.

“No. I haven’t found somebody else.”

Arthur’s head snapped up. “What are you saying Merlin?”

“I’m saying that I don’t think there could be anybody else. Even six thousand miles away I couldn’t forget you. There were plenty of offers but none of them were you.”

“Merlin, what are you saying? Have you got a chance?”

“I don’t know.” Merlin bit his lip. “I don’t know if I can do this and then cope if you change your mind. Can … can we try to be friends again first? I need to know that I can trust you first?”

“Friends first. Of course we can.” Arthur forced a smile to his face bitterly disappointed but, even so, he understood Merlin’s reasoning. “We should probably get back inside, people will be wondering where we are.” He’d been mistaken; he’d thought that things would be easier having had this conversation but he couldn’t have been more wrong. This was going to be torture. He would put on a smile and make polite conversation but all he really wanted to do was retreat to the safety of his flat to get horribly drunk and wallow in his misery.

~*~

Five days later, Arthur was driving Merlin to Heathrow, determined to be there since he hadn’t been last time. He was also plucking up the courage to potentially do something very stupid. Even on her honeymoon, Morgana couldn’t resist meddling. She had phoned him two days ago and demanded all of the details about everything that had happened between the two of them at the wedding. Arthur had obliged, desperately needing the help even if it meant throwing himself at Morgana’s mercy. He had told her what Merlin had asked about being friends first and she had admitted that it wasn’t completely unexpected; she hadn’t thought that Arthur’s confession would be enough to exonerate Arthur of all of his mistakes and make Merlin change his mind. She had told him that she had a plan but that it was a long shot and that she wasn’t sure if it was going to work or not. Arthur had simply replied that he had nothing to lose so would she please get on with it because he was fairly certain that this wasn’t Leon’s idea of a honeymoon. So, according to Morgana’s plan, Arthur had a bag of his own clothes in the boot of the car and, courtesy of throwing Uther’s name around, two first class tickets to the States (Merlin’s ticket had been upgraded) on reserve.

Arthur waited as long as he could before saying anything, literally waiting until Merlin was about to say goodbye and head for the check-in desks before his hand shot out and wrapped around Merlin’s wrist.

“Merlin, wait! I have something that I need to say to you. Look, I know that this is incredibly selfish of me considering all the crap that I’ve put you through but I can’t do this. I can’t just be friends with you. I want more, I need more.”

“Arthur,” Merlin practically groaned it out. “What do you want? A big sappy airport reunion scene like the crappy romcoms Morgana swears blind that she doesn’t watch?”

“No.” Arthur raked a hand through his hair. “What I’m asking for is a chance. I’m asking you to give me a chance to prove to you that I’m not going to fuck this up.”

“That’s all very well and good but, if I decided to give you a chance how would it work? If you hadn’t realised, I need to go back to the States and your job is here. It’s hardly conducive to starting a relationship.”

Arthur looked rather abashed. “Yes well, about that. I thought that I could come with you to the States … for a couple of weeks at least.”

His hope rose as shy delight bloomed in Merlin’s eyes. “And how were you planning on doing that when you haven’t got any luggage with you?”

“Morgana thought of that as well. I have a bag in the car and two tickets on standby for your flight. What do you say? Will you give me a chance?” He held his breath waiting for Merlin’s response.

“Yes.”

“Yes?” Arthur had to be hearing things.

“Yes.”

Merlin nodded, looking more than a bit apprehensive at the answer he had given. On the other hand, Arthur couldn’t have been more ecstatic. His whole face was wreathed in smiles and he felt as though he was on cloud nine. He let go of Merlin’s wrist and instead laced their fingers together and raised them, pressing a kiss to Merlin’s knuckles.

“I promise that you’re not going to regret saying yes. I will never hurt you and I promise that I am going to make sure that you know I love you for the rest of your life.”

“Arthur?” Merlin’s voice was full of amusement.

“Yes Merlin?”

“You’re now venturing quite deeply into sappy airport romantic comedy territory.”

“Oh. Sorry.” Arthur didn’t really know what to say to that.

“Well, you’re on a slippery slope now. You might as well just go all the way.”

“Merlin, stop gibbering and speak English will you.”

“If you fuck this up and hurt me then I will kill you. Then I will hand you over to Morgana. Got it? Good. Then just kiss me for God’s sake.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you would prefer to comment on LJ, you can do so [here](http://vix-spes.livejournal.com/78502.html)


End file.
